Edward Mulhare

Edward Mulhare (April 8, 1923 – May 24, 1997) was an Irish actor born in Cork City, County Cork, Ireland, to John and Catherine Mulhare, one of three brothers raised at 22 Quaker Road. He received his early education at St. Nessan's Christian Brothers School and later at North Monastery. As a young adult he began studying medicine at the National University of Ireland before redirecting his ambitions toward the theatre.

Mulhare's early stage career took him through various Irish venues, including the Gate Theatre in Dublin, before he relocated to London. There he worked alongside Orson Welles and John Gielgud, co-starring with Welles in a 1951 production of Othello that was directed by Welles and produced by Laurence Olivier. He also appeared in a production of Pygmalion during this period. In 1955, prior to his Broadway career, Mulhare starred as James Finnegan in Hill 24 Doesn't Answer, the first feature film produced in Israel.

His Broadway career ran from 1956 to 1977 and included appearances in The Advocate, Don Juan in Hell, and Mary, Mary. His most celebrated stage role came when he took over the part of Professor Higgins in the original Broadway production of My Fair Lady from Rex Harrison in 1957, having first served as Harrison's understudy. Mulhare went on to perform the role for approximately 1,000 performances over three years in New York, then carried it through an international tour that included an extensive run in Russia. He continued performing the role in summer theatres and with touring companies into the 1970s. One notable performance took place on a university campus in East Lansing, Michigan, where a blizzard threatened to cancel the show; when word spread that any student who could make it to the venue would be admitted free, the house filled to 4,000 audience members, some of whom arrived on skis. Mulhare later recounted the story alongside Anne Rogers in a 1978 interview on The Irv Kupcinet Show. He and Rogers also appeared together as King Arthur and Guenevere in productions of Camelot. Mulhare also starred in My Fair Ladies on Broadway.

His first television appearance came in 1956 in an episode of The Adventures of Robin Hood, and he appeared as a guest panelist on the CBS game show What's My Line? in both 1958 and 1963. By 1965 he had established himself in Hollywood, earning roles in the films Von Ryan's Express, Our Man Flint, and Caprice, and guest-starring in television series including Daniel Boone and Twelve O'Clock High. From 1968 to 1970 he starred as Captain Daniel Gregg in the supernatural sitcom The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, a role that again placed him as a successor to Rex Harrison, who had originated the character in the 1947 film. In 1969 he starred in the television film Gidget Grows Up, playing Alex MacLaughlin opposite Karen Valentine. He also guest-starred in the Battlestar Galactica episode "Experiment in Terra." In the mid-1980s he hosted Secrets & Mysteries, a television magazine series examining historical mysteries and the paranormal. His most prominent later television role was Devon Miles, director of the Foundation for Law and Government, on the action drama Knight Rider from 1982 to 1986, alongside David Hasselhoff. His final screen appearance was on Baywatch Nights with Hasselhoff in December 1996.

Mulhare died of lung cancer on May 24, 1997, at his home in Van Nuys, California, at the age of 74, having battled the illness for five months. He remained a lifelong bachelor and is buried at St. Joseph's Cemetery on Tory Top Road in Cork City, Ireland. The television series Team Knight Rider dedicated its episode "K.R.O.," broadcast on October 27, 1997, to his memory.